Title of The Book: The Color Project

Author: Sierra Abrams

Release Date: July 18th, 2017

Publisher: Gatekeeper Press

Links to buy the book:

Amazon    Barnes & Noble   Book Depository  

Add To:

GoodReads

Synopsis:

Bernice Aurora Wescott has one thing she doesn’t want anyone to know: her name. That is, until Bee meets Levi, the local golden boy who runs a charity organization called The Color Project.

Levi is not at all shy about attempting to guess Bee’s real name; his persistence is one of the many reasons why Bee falls for him. But while Levi is everything she never knew she needed, giving up her name would feel like a stamp on forever. And that terrifies her.

When unexpected news of an illness in the family drains Bee’s summer of everything bright, she is pushed to the breaking point. Losing herself in The Color Project—a world of weddings, funerals, cancer patients, and hopeful families that the charity funds—is no longer enough. Bee must hold up the weight of her family, but to do that, she needs Levi. She’ll have to give up her name and let him in completely or lose the best thing that’s ever happened to her.

For fans of Stephanie Perkins and Morgan Matson, THE COLOR PROJECT is a story about the three great loves of life—family, friendship, and romance—and the bonds that withstand tragedy.

Biography:

At 7 years old, Sierra Abrams decided that one day she would publish a book. For over a decade, in between exploring other career options, she kept coming back to that very first dream. Now her life consists of writing books of all kinds… Kissing books, angsty books, killing books, whimsical books, and sometimes books that are all of the above. When she’s not writing, you can find her reading, traveling, consuming sushi, or daydreaming about Henry Cavill.

Social Media links.

Website

Twitter 

Instagram

Goodreads

Interview

Right away I was caught by your website intro “Sierra & the Quest to Write Everything.” How did you come up with that? How do you see writing as a quest?

Thank you so much! I think this title fits me as a writer in every way. Everything I do in life is a conquerable quest – there’s always more to learn, see, and understand. And I want to write in every genre to exist. I currently have 60 individual ideas that could at any moment sprout into books, and they’re spread over many different genres/age groups. I only have so many years to write all these things, so I best get a head start now, eh?

 How did your exploration of other career options shape you are a writer and later shape your stories?

Oooh good question! I wanted to be an architect and an English teacher (among other things) in between wanting to write. It’s interesting because the first taught me I didn’t want to do anything math related, and the second taught me that unless I was going to really try to do something with it, a degree is just a piece of paper. And I didn’t really want to be an English teacher – I just thought I did. I really wanted to be a story teller. These decisions haven’t shaped my books much yet, but they will in some of the stories I have yet to tell, and they definitely made me the person I am today.

In your bio I can’t help by admire the trust you have in your characters, “they always pull through” when it comes to completing an entire novel or even a sentence. Do you think writing this way, with trust in your characters, is your favorite aspect of storytelling?

I’m not sure I would call it my favorite aspect, because it’s definitely terrifying to trust fictional characters enough to give them the reins. I do think, however, that it is the mostimportant aspect of storytelling. I want my stories to be completely character driven; those have always been the strongest stories to read. Plot often forces the characters to do something that might not be in their nature, but if the characters are at the wheel, the plot falls into place naturally. There are other complications to this, of course, but it’s worth it for the sake of a smooth, realistic butterfly effect.

Out of, and I quote from your bio again, “7 salvageable stories,” are any of them future works in progress?

They are indeed! I’m working on two of them right now, and one of them is coming out next fall! You can add it to Goodreads here.

In one word, describe your debut novel, The Color Project?

Hopeful.

Tell us a little bit about The Color Project. How did it change you? How did it grow from an idea to a published novel? Etc.

The Color Project was my very first contemporary idea and quickly became the first contemporary I ever wrote. It took 5-6 weeks to pen that first draft, which shocked me, because I’d never had a novel finished in such a concentrated amount of time. It went through a few minor changes and lots of line edits, but it was basically born as a fully formed idea. Shocking, because most of my ideas morph over time. And it changed me the most by helping me overcome some very serious fears and struggles I’d developed over my teen years. I wrote it and promoted it during my darkest years of depression, so coming out of that on the other side with a finished, published book amazes me. The hard work is paying off!

I gushed a little… okay a lot… over Levi. How did he come to live?

Levi is probably my only wish fulfillment book boy, and kind of a mixture of all sorts of people I know in real life. He kind of just….sprang to life. His personality, his wild hair, his name, his sweet heart, his determination to be everything his dad wasn’t, his involvement with cars…. He just suddenly existed and I knew I had to write him. I’m so glad people are loving him as much as I do.

When naming characters, shaping them, do you use real life people or actors or other fictional characters to help in the creation process?

It depends on the character, actually! Sometimes I instantly see the face of someone I’m familiar with. Sometimes I write faceless until one day BAM! I see someone (an actor or model or random person on Pinterest) and I’m like “Yes. This is that person.” Sometimes I see a face and go “YOU NEED TO BE A CHARACTER.” And as for naming, I use aaalllll sorts of baby naming tools. If the character doesn’t ring the doorbell of my mind fully equipped with a name, I spend hours finding the right name for them. I’ll ask for recommendations, I’ll scour the letter I think their name should start with, I’ll ask around, I’ll take notes while meeting new people, etc. Sometimes I’ll know the character has purple hair and tattoos and likes coffee, so I’ll search for names that remind me of that. Or sometimes I’ll see a name that reminds me of gardening and long car rides and the color pink, so I’ll create a character who does/likes all those things. I really never know. 😉

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

You asked amazing questions and I had so much fun answering them!! Thank you soooo much for having me, Rae!

THANK YOU SIERRA! ❤

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Blog Tour:

Monday June 19
In The Morning at 8:00 AM EST – Interview – Brittany´sBookRambles

In The Afternoon at 1:00 PM EST – Review – ReadsandThoughts

 
Tuesday June 20
In The Morning at 8:00 AM EST – Excerpt of The Color Project – TheYABookTraveler

In The Afternoon at 1:00 PM EST – Review – TheHermitLibrarian

Wednesday June 21
In The Morning at 8:00 AM EST – Review – YAandWine

In The Afternoon at 1:00 PM EST -Guest Post – LimeLightLiterature

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Thursday June 22
In The Morning at 8:00 AM EST – Review – AvdReader

In The Afternoon at 1:00 PM EST – DIY: The Color Project Bookmarks – LoisReadsBooks

Friday June 23
In The Morning at 8:00 AM EST – Excerpt of The Color Project – TheReader&The Chef

In The Afternoon at 1:00 PM EST – Mini Review & Favorite Quotes – TheLifeOfABookNerdAddict

Saturday June 24
In The Morning at 8:00 AM EST – Interview – CurlyHairBibliophile  

In The Afternoon at 1:00 PM EST – Mood Board – WonderfullyBookish

Sunday June 25
In The Morning at 8:00 AM EST – Review – MorrissaReads

In The Afternoon at 1:00 PM EST – Guest Post – AThousandWordsAMillionBooks

Monday June 26

In The Morning at 8:00 AM EST – Ways To Support Your Favorite Causes – TalesOfTheRavenousReader

In The Afternoon at 1:00 PM EST – Review – InkDin

Tuesday June 27

In The Morning at 8:00 AM EST – Review – ILoveBooksGirl

In The Afternoon at 1:00 PM EST –  Interview – Brooke-Reports

Wednesday June 28

In The Morning at 8:00 AM EST – Book Hangover  – FablesandFae

In The Afternoon at 1:00 PM EST –  Guest Post – Tiffthebooknerd

Thursday June 29

In The Morning at 8:00 AM EST – Review – BookWyrmingThoughts

In The Afternoon at 1:00 PM EST – Excerpt – SimplyNicollette

Friday June 30

In The Morning at 8:00 AM EST – Review – LittleRedsReviews

In The Afternoon at 1:00 PM EST –  Creative Post – LostInEverAfter

Saturday July 1st

In The Morning at 8:00 AM EST – Review – Biscottos Books

In The Afternoon at 1:00 PM EST –  Interview – ANewLookOnBooks